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| Processed by: | Stephen Nonack March 1982. | ||||||||||||||||||
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© 2001 Boston Athenæum.
| William Howe Downes Letters Received, 1874-1922 | |
| Downes, William Howe, 1854-1941. | |
| 2 boxes. | |
| Boston Athenæum. Reference Department. | |
| These letters were received, principally, while Downes was art critic for the Boston Evening Transcript, a post he held for over 30 years. Most were written by Boston area artists (and especially, "Fenway studio" artists) in response to Downes' reviews of their exhibited work, and so provide a tantalizing sketch of cultural life in Boston at the turn of the century. A one volume scrapbook contains letters and newspaper clippings regarding the publication of Downes' The Life and Works of Winslow Homer (1911). |
Gift of Alfred B. Downes, 1976.
Permission to publish from or cite from this collection must be requested in writing from the Boston Athenæum.
Open for use by Athenæum members and qualified guest researchers according to guidelines established for the use of locked room materials.
Born Derby, Connecticut, 1854. Eminent Boston art critic for the Boston Evening Transcript, and author who wrote John S. Sargent, his Life and Work and The Life and Works of Winslow Homer. Died Boston, Massachusetts, 1941.
The letters provide a rich sketch of artistic life between artist and critic in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The letters are arranged in one series and are foldered chronologically. Three folders at the end of the series exist as undated. An index of authors is included with the collection.
Allen, Marion Boyd, 1862-1941.
Allen, Thomas, Jr.
Benson, Frank Weston, 1862-1951.
Bicknell, Albion Harris, 1837-1915.
Churchill, William, W. , 1858-1926.
Cole, Joseph Foxcroft , 1837-1892.
Cross, Sally M., 1874-1950.
Enneking, John J., 1841-1916.
Fiske, Gertrude, 1878-1961.
French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931.
Hale, Lilian Westcott, 1881-1963.
Hale, Philip Leslie, 1865-1931.
Hamilton, Edward Wilbur Dean, 1864-1943.
Hassam, Frederick Childe, 1859-1935.
Hazelton, Mary Brewster, 1868-1953.
Hibbard, Aldro Thompson, 1886-1972.
Hopkinson, Charles S., 1869-1962.
Houston, Frances C. Lyons, 1851-1906.
James, William, 1882-1961.
Kaula, William Jurian, 1871-1953.
Little, Philip, 1857-1942.
MacKnight, Dodge, 1860-1950.
Macomber, Mary Lizzie, 1861-1916.
Moulton, Louise Chandler, 1835-1908.
Murphy, Herman Dudley, 1867-1945.
Page, Marie Danforth, 1869-1940.
Pepper, Charles H., 1864-1950.
Perry, Lilla Cabot, 1848-1933.
Ross, Denman Waldo, 1853-1935.
Smith, Joseph Lindon, 1863-1950.
Tarbell, Edmund C., 1862-1938.
Tomkins, Frank Hector.
Turner, Ross Sterling, 1847-1915.
Vinton, Frederick Porter, 1846-1911.
Woodbury, Charles H., 1864-1940.
Artists-- Correspondence.
Art critics--Massachusetts.
Women artists--Massachusetts
Boston (Mass.)--Cultural affairs--Art
Letters Received, 1874-1922.
| Box/Folder | Contents | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.1 | 1874-1879 Letters Received from: W. E. Downes; Walter L. Palmer. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.2 | 1880-1883 Letters Received from: George H. Boughton; Wilkie Collins; C. W. Ernst; William Formby Halsall; Arthur Hober; Alfred Ordway; T. F. Wainwright. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.3 | 1884 Letters Received from: Atlantic Monthly; E. M. Bacon; Truman Howe Barlett; Boston Daily Advertiser; Thomas S. Clarke; J. Foxcroft Cole; John W. Dunsmore; D. Jerome Elwell; Paint & Clay Club; Charles B. Perkins; Quincy A. Shaw; Henry Oliver Walker. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.4 | 1885 Letters Received from: Atlantic Monthly; Paul Wayland Barlett; J. Foxcroft Cole; Edmund Henry Garrett; Otto Grundmann. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.5 | 1886 Letters Received from: Atlantic Monthly; Charles H. Davis; W. L. Dean; D. Jerome Elwell; Abbott Fuller Graves; Henry Greville; William Formby Halsall; Herbert Herkomer; S. J. F. Johnson; Paul Leroi; Alfred Ordway; Thomas Robinson; Henry Oliver Walker; George S. Wasson; S. C. (Frank) Wicks. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.6 | 1887 Letters Received from: Thomas Allen; Atlantic Monthly; Frank W. Benson; Alice M. Curtis; Lucy Derby; Sidney E. Dickinson; Dodd, Mead & Co.; Childe Hassam; S. J. F. Johnson; Thomas Robinson; Frank Torrey; Henry Oliver Walker. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.7 | 1888 Letters Received from: Atlantic Monthly; J. Foxcroft Cole; Frank Torrey; Frederick P. Vinton; Henry Oliver Walker. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.8 | 1889 Letters Received from: Atlantic Monthly; Edmund Henry Garrett; Childe Hassam; John Addison Porter; Henry Oliver Walker; George S. Wasson. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.9 | 1890-1891 Letters Received from: Lawrence Abbott; Thomas T. Baldwin; J. Eastman Chase; Christian Union; Edmund Henry Garrett; William Formby Halsall; C. G. Hampton; Frederick Keppel; Eldridge Kingsley; Sylvester R. Koehler; Henry Sandham; M. F. Sweetser; Frank Hector Tomkins; Charles A. Walker. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.10 | 1892 Letters Received from: Thomas Allen; Lucy Scarborough Conant; D. Jerome Elwell; Estes & Lauriat; William Formby Halsall; C. G. Hampton; James Kennedy; Sylvester R. Koehler; Henry Sandham; Frank Hector Tomkins; Henry Oliver Walker. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.11 | 1893 Letters Received from: Truman Howe Bartlett; Boston Art Club; D. Jerome Elwell; Harper and Brothers; Eldridge Kingsley; Sylvester R. Koehler; Magazine of Art; Henry Sandham; Frank Hector Tomkins; Frederick P. Vinton; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.12 | 1894 Letters Received from: Boston Evening Transcript; Edward H. Clement; James W. Ellsworth; John J. Enneking; Sylvester R. Koehler; Henry Sandham; Taylor Library, Milford, Connecticut; Frederick P. Vinton; Henry S. Washburn; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.13/14 | 1895 Letters Received from: Sylvester Baxter; Charles K. Bolton; Boston Herald; Brookline Public Library; Cassell and Company, Limited; J. E. Chamberlin; J. Eastman Chase; Thomas S. Clarke; Cyrus E. Dallin; John J. Enneking; Edmund Henry Garrett; Harper and Brothers; Arthur Hober; Chester A. Lawrence; Charles G. Loring; Ellen Robbins; Edward Robinson; Frank Hector Tomkins; Frank Torrey; Frederick P. Vinton; Marcus Waterman; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.15/16 | 1896 Letters Received from: American Art Co.; Sylvester Baxter; Frank W. Benson; C. J. J. Blackall; Alice M. Curtis; Helen M. Green; William Formby Halsall; James C. Hills; W. Stanton Howard; Sylvester R. Koehler; Chester A. Lawrence; Wilton Lockwood; Frank G. Macomber; J. W. S. Peters; Henry Sandham; Anna Seaton Schmidt; Edmund C. Tarbell; Frank Hector Tomkins; Frank Torrey; Roger Wolcott; Charles H. Woodbury; Henry D. Merritt Young. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.17 | 1897-1899 Letters Received from: Albian Harris Bicknell; J. H. Clark; Alice M. Curtis; William Henry Dennis; John J. Enneking; Robert Gordon Hardie; Sylvester R. Koehler; E. M. Lancaster; R. Hall McCormick; Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; John Addison Porter; Henry Sandham; Edmund C. Tarbell; Frank Hector Tomkins; Frank Torrey; S. Ross Turner; J. Q. A. Ward; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.18 | 1900 Letters Received from: Albian Harris Bicknell; William Henry Dennis; W. E. Downes; Mariquita Gill; H. J. Koehler; Walter F. Lansil; Little, Brown and Company; Charles G. Loring; Dodge MacKnight; Herman Dudley Murphy; John C. Pearson; Edward Robinson; Edmund C. Tarbell; Frank Hector Tomkins; W. T. Whitehead; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.19/20 | 1901 Letters Received from: Art Students League of New York; Albian Harris Bicknell; J. T. Coolidge; Cyrus E. Dallin; William Henry Dennis; Jane H. Downes; Maude Howe Elliott; John J. Enneking; Francis J. Flanagan; Frank Carlos Griffith; Frank W. Gunsaulus; Henry H. Kitson; Little, Brown and Company; Laura K. McAllister; Robert Reid; Ellen Robbins; Elizabeth W. Roberts; Anna Seaton Schmidt; Joseph Lindon Smith; Charles Walter Stetson; Eugene Wambaugh; James T. White and Company; S. C. Frank Wicks; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1.21 | 1902 Letters Received from: Sylvester Baxter; Albian Harris Bicknell; Charles H. Davis; William Henry Dennis; W. E. Downes; W. M. R. French; Harvard University; Mary L. Macomber; Papyrus Club; Charles Walter Stetson; Henry Oliver Walker; S. C. Frank Wicks. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.22 | 1903 Letters Received from: American Conisseur Magazine; Albian Harris Bicknell; J. T. Coolidge; W. E. Downes; Kuno Franke; Frank Carlos Griffith; Warren F. Kellogg; Mary L. Macomber; New England Magazine; Charles H. Pepper; Joseph Lindon Smith; Frank Hector Tomkins; Henry Oliver Walker. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.23/24 | 1904 Letters Received from: Thomas Allen; Albian Harris Bicknell; Boston Art Club; Scott Clifton Carbee; William B. P. Closson; Alvin Langdon Coburn; Copley Society; Royal Cortissoz; Emilie DeCombes; William Henry Dennis; W. E. Downes; Charles Edward Hodges; Edith G. Hoyt; August F. Jaccaci; William J. Kaula; Frank G. Macomber; James Henry Moser; New England Magazine; Walter Gilman Page; Bela Lyon Pratt; M. S. Prichard; Radcliffe College Art Club; Mary F. Robinson; Stanford University; H. Louise Stevens; Yamanaka and Company; J. Harvey Young. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.25 | 1905 Letters Received from: Albian Harris Bicknell; Royal Cortissoz; Edmund Henry Garrett; Philip L. Hale; Charles Hopkinson; Francis C. Houston; B. K. Howard; Flora G. Kling; Christopher G. Mease; James Henry Moser; H. Winthrop Peirce; Louise Heald Prichard; Nettie M. Ricker; M. Robbins; Charles Walter Stetson; Abbott H. Thayer; C. Scott White. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.26 | 1906 Letters Received from: Albian Harris Bicknell; Boston Art Club; Boston Evening Transcript; William B. P. Closson; Alvin Langdon Coburn; Lucy Scarborough Conant; George M. Haushalter; August F. Jaccaci; William James, Jr.; G. S. Oliver; Marion Powers; M. S. Prichard; Maryanne A. Richard; Henry P. Spaulding; Charles Walter Stetson; Frederick P. Vinton; S. C. Frank Wicks. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.27 | 1907-1908 Letters Received from: Thomas Allen; Ladies' Home Journal, John La Farge; Harrison S. Morris; James Henry Moser; R. C. Vose; The World's Work. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.28 | 1909 Letters Received from: American Federation of Arts; American Unitarian Association; Frank W. Benson; Albian Harris Bicknell; Alvin Langdon Coburn; Carl G. Cutler; Charles H. Davis; Henry H. Gallison; Edmund Henry Garrett; B. K. Howard; Philip Little; Leila Mechlin; H. Winthrop Peirce; Bela Lyon Pratt; Anna Seaton Schmidt; S. Ross Turner; Frederick P. Vinton; R. C. Vose; T. F. Wainwright; S. C. Frank Wicks; Henry Wolf. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.29 | 1910 Letters Received from: American Federation of Arts; Alice Worthington Ball; John Wesley Beatty; Albian Harris Bicknell; Charles O. Brewster; J. Edson Briggs; Frances Downes; Maud Howe Elliott; Edmund Henry Garrett; Mariquita Gill; Abbott Fuller Graves; William Formby Halsall; Albert Bushnell Hart; Arthur Merton Hazard; Philip Little; Mary L. Macomber; Frank Hector Tomkins; Harold B. Warren; S. C. Frank Wicks; Mary Earl Wood; Charles H. Woodbury; Worcester Art Museum. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.30 | 1911-1912 Letters Received from: Thomas Allen; Frank W. Benson; Albian Harris Bicknell; Harold C. Dunbar; John J. Enneking; William Forby Halsall; Mary Brewster Hazelton; John G. Johnson; Mary L. Macomber; Leila Mechlin; Marie D. Page; Margaret Patterson; Bela Lyon Pratt; Lucy C. Richards; H. H. Robinson; Augustus Vincent Tack; George A. Thompson; C. Scott White; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.31 | 1913 Letters Received from: Charles Avery Aiken; Albian Harris Bicknell; Alvin Langdon Coburn; Ethel Blanchard Collver; Wilbur Dean Hamilton; Mary L. Macomber; Bela Lyon Pratt; Elizabeth W. Roberts; S. C. Frank Wicks. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.32 | 1914 Letters Received from: Thomas Allen; Brae-Burn Country Club; Alvin Langdon Coburn; Kenyon Cox; F. Usher DeVoll; Abbott Fuller Graves; Wilbur Dean Hamilton; Benjamin Kimball; Henry Cabot Lodge; Mary L. Macomber; Harriot B. Newhall; Margaret Patterson; Lilla Cabot Perry; Edmund C. Tarbell; Frank Hector Tomkins; R. C. Vose; Edward F. Wood. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.33 | 1915-1916 Letters Received from: Henry Curtis Ahl, Marion Boyd Allen; Frank W. Benson; Ralph Blakelock; Brooklyn Museum; William B. P. Closson; Royal Cortissoz; Sally Cross; Vernon Ellis; Daniel Chester French; Francis J. Garrison; William H. Goodyear; Childe Hassam; Charles W. Hudson; Russell T. Hyde; W. A. B. Kirkpatrick; Philip Little; Harriot B. Newhall; Robert H. Nisbet; Elizabeth W. Roberts; Albert Felix Schmitt; Edmund C. Tarbell; Marian P. Waitt; Owen Wister; Hamilton A. Wolf; Henry Wolf; Charles H. Woodbury. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.34 | 1917-1918 Letters Received from: American Federation of Arts; Clifford W. Ashley; Albert Henry Atkins; Carnegie Institute; Alvin Langdon Coburn; Edmund Henry Garrett; William Forby Halsall; Robert B. Harshe; Mary Brewster Hazelton; William J. Kaula; Leila Mechlin; Lilla Cabot Perry; Elizabeth W. Roberts; Throop College of Technology; Frank Hector Tomkins; Mabel Vaughan. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.35 | 1919-1920 Letters Received from: Arthur T. Aldis; American Federation of Arts; John F. Braun; Margaret Fitzhugh Browne; Royal Cortissoz; Charles H. Davis; Franklin M. Drew; Gertrude Fiske; Philip L. Hale; W. A. B. Kirkpatrick; Leila Mechlin; Museum of Fine Arts; John T. Spaulding; Frank Hector Tomkins. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.36 | 1921-1924 Letters Received from: Frank W. Benson; Boston Society of Watercolor Painters; Albert P. Button; Dorothy S. Emmons; Frank Carlos Griffith; Lilian Westcott Hale; F. Mortimer Lamb; Bashka Paeff; Chauncey F. Ryder; Frank Hector Tomkins; Herbert B. Turner; S. C. Frank Wicks; Max Wiezorek. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.37 | No date. Correspondents A-O: Letters Received: W. W. Churchill; Kate Leah Cotharin; F. H. Day; Dorothy Downes; John J. Enneking; A. Hemenway; Aldro T. Hibbard; Henry H. Kitson; Edwin D. Mead; Marion G. Meteyard; Louise Chandler Moulton; Herman Dudley Murphy; New England Magazine; Polly Parker Nordell; Jean Nutting Oliver; A. Oudinot. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.38 | No date. Correspondents P-Z: Letters Received: John Addison Porter; J. Rogers Rich; Mary N. Richardson; Ellen Robbins; Florence Robinson; David J. Strain; Edmund C. Tarbell; Frank Torrey; Frederick P. Vinton; S. C. Frank Wicks. | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2.39 | Miscellaneous Printed Materials, n.d. | ||||||||||||||||||
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